India all-rounder Shardul Thakur said on Friday that Sarfaraz Khan doesn’t need India A tours or exposure series to earn a place in the national side, adding that consistent runs in domestic cricket would be enough for the middle-order batter to make his Test comeback.
Sarfaraz participated in India’s tour of Australia late last year, however he has since been left out of the Test team. Sarfaraz made his Test debut against England in the Rajkot Test of the 2023–24 season.
Sarfaraz, 28, was also left out of the India A series against South Africa A. He last played in the Mumbai Test against New Zealand, one of his six Test outings overall for India.
“Nowadays, for the India A side, they look at boys, who they want to prepare for international cricket,” Thakur, who also captains Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, told the media.
“Sarfraz doesn’t need India A game to play international cricket. If he gets back to scoring again, he can straight away go and play Test series also,” he said.
Mumbai defeated Jammu and Kashmir in their first-ever Ranji Trophy match, despite Sarfaraz failing to convert his starts in both innings.
“He is coming from injury lay-off. But before that, he scored two-three centuries in the Buchi Babu Trophy before getting injured.
“Coming back against J&K in the previous match, he had a nice 40 (42). It was very unfortunate to have been run out. But for him, I don’t think playing India A is important,” Thakur said.
As Mumbai looks to continue on their impressive start, Thakur expressed optimism that Sarfaraz will be able to perform well in the upcoming games.
“He is a senior pro and whenever we put him in there in the 22 yards, he is someone who always delivers in crunch situations,” Thakur said.
“He has big scores of 200-250s and those innings have come when the team was two or three down quite early in the innings. To play that kind of innings under pressure, you have to have something special in you.”
“He is one of the special players who never disappoints to perform and put up big scores. He has done it for years and years. Regardless of which number he bats, I think he will deliver,” Thakur added.
At the BKC Ground in Mumbai, the 42-time champions will now play their maiden home match against Chhattisgarh.
In other second-round Group D games, Jammu and Kashmir will try to recover from their loss when they play a resolute Rajasthan, who defeated Chhattisgarh in their season opener, at Srinagar’s Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium.
While Puducherry will play Hyderabad in their backyard, Delhi will play Himachal Pradesh at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
